Children participating in The Place’s summer childcare program. The Place is located at 22 East Main Street in Norwich, and will be offering full and half day childcare for the upcoming President's Day and winter break school closings. They also offer childcare over the summer for children in kindergarten through 12 years of age. (Submitted photos)

CHENANGO COUNTY — Youth service organization The Place will be offering full and half day childcare at their 22 East Main Street location in Norwich, to accommodate for scheduled school President's Day and winter break closings. Norwich, Unadilla Valley, and Oxford schools are closing on Friday, February 18 and Monday, February 21, and Sherburne-Earlville schools will be closed from Monday, February 21 through Friday, February 25.

The program is open to children in kindergarten up to 12 years of age, and parents can register their kids for any span of time throughout the day, according to The Place KIDS Program Coordinator Elizabeth Hathaway.

"If the child is here more than four and a half hours it would count as a full day. If they’re here less than four and a half hours it would count as a half day," she explained. "Pretty much the parent picks those hours. Say they need care between three and five that day, because one is getting out of work and one is going to work, then they could just tell us they need those hours and we would just have the kids slotted for that time."

Childcare for over four and a half hours costs $22 for the day, and childcare for under four and a half hours costs $11 for the day. Breakfast, lunch, and a snack is also provided, and is included in the total daily cost.

Financial assistance is available for the program, and would require additional forms to be filled out and approved by The Place board, as well as a denial letter from the Chenango County Department of Social Services (DSS).

Hathaway said registration packets should be submitted at least 24 hours before the first day their child will be attending, and the packets can be found online or at The Place.

"We generally ask for 24 hours just so we can get the paperwork all processed," said Hathaway. "We have registration packets either on our website, theplacenorwich.com ... under the 'Resources' bit there's 'Forms,' and they can download the registration packet there. Or they can stop in at The Place and grab a registration packet from us."

The Place also offers full and half day childcare programming throughout the entire school year, in conjunction with school holidays and closings, and kids can be registered for any number of them.

"We do have that option in our registration packet, they can do what days they need. So even if they just want to come for like the 18th or something, they can sign up for that day and then not have to worry about their children having to come every holiday. They can pick and choose what they need," said Hathaway.

She added that children attending the program will be required to wear a mask while at The Place, and staff will also do a health check upon arrival.

"They have to wear masks all day in our care. We do a health check before they come in, so we take their temperature, we ask how they’re feeling. We do ask parents if they’ve had any contact with anyone being tested or that has tested positive," Hathaway explained. "Then they wash their hands a lot throughout the day. They do it on arrival, they do it before and after they eat, and they do it anytime they come in from outside. Or if we do a messy activity, they wash their hands."

Children attending the upcoming childcare sessions can expect several fun activities as well, including arts and crafts, games, and a scavenger hunt.

"So the fizzy dinosaur eggs, it’s using baking soda and vinegar except they're making like a paste sort of thing with the baking soda, and then they’re going to make an egg shape around a dinosaur toy, and then they’ll use vinegar to kind of have the dinosaur be hatched," said Hathaway. "For the make your own instrument we have a couple different plans they can do. We have a make your own guitar which would involve like a box and some rubber bands. We have rain sticks they can make, maracas, and I believe the last one we have is a kazoo."

Other activities include musical chairs, exploring fossils with Bill Nye, a dinosaur scavenger hunt, and painting portraits of a favorite singer or artist.

For those that need childcare over summer break, The Place also has a full day childcare program throughout the entire summer. The program is open to children in kindergarten through 12 years of age, and pricing is also $22 per full day and $11 per half day.

"It’s full day programming much like the ones we’ll be doing coming up, but it’s all summer," Hathaway explained. "Registration packets are not quite ready yet, but they will be ready by spring break and people will be able to come in to The Place and grab one of those, or they’ll be on our website."

There is no registration deadline for the summer program, so kids can be signed up at any point throughout the summer. Brochures are currently available at The Place, and detail the themes planned for each week of the program.

"We do have brochures ready for the summer now. They’re not online though, you have to come into The Place to get one. But that has all the themes we’ll be doing, we do a theme a week," Hathaway said. "One week will be Fourth of July or America based, and one will be focused on the ocean, and we’re planning some field trips with that and I’m working with some outside programs to have them come in and do some activities with the kids, and that involves 4H and Eat Smart."

For more information on The Place's childcare programs, contact KIDS Program Coordinator Elizabeth Hathaway at 607-336-9696 ext. 108, visit their website at theplacenorwich.com, or check out The Place Facebook page.